Progressive conservation.

That is what TREE is all about. We accomplish this through environmental education, outreach, community development, and protected area funding.

Many people hear the word conservation and think that we must conserve, or, in other words, use and do less. Overconsumption is a growing problem and there is a huge benefit in using less. This is something that TREE expeditions naturally highlight. However, our philosophy is that there is a big problem with doing less. We need to travel more, explore more, learn more, go faster, go farther, and push our limits. The solution then becomes not doing less, but rather doing more while using less. This is progressive conservation.

We want to put less carbon in the air but frequently travel. We want to take less fuel out of the ground but have enough energy available for our increasing demand. We want to cut down less forests for agriculture but still feed all the newcomers in the world. These may sound like impossibilities, but continued research, education, and development will lead us there.

At TREE we explore all of these possibilities and more through interactive discussions and hands-on demonstrations. We talk about carbon sequestration and then see it in practice. We discuss wilderness preserves and explore their boundaries with rangers. We talk about water management and assist in river monitoring. Education and exploration go hand in hand.

HOW YOU CAN TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE IN CONSERVATION

Aside from experiential environmental education, you will be directly contributing to tropical rainforest conservation efforts simply by partaking in a TREE expedition. Every site we stay at is part of a protected area or is affiliated with environmental research. What this means is that the money you pay for lodging, food, transportation, ranger guidance, and excursions goes towards supporting protected areas. These areas then use the funding they receive for monitoring and patrolling within their boundaries, as well as for community development, outreach, and training. At most sites we will also have the chance to participate in conservation initiatives such as river monitoring in Guyana and restoration projects in Belize.

Turtle Mountain, Guyana

Essequibo River, Guyana

Iwokrama Forest, Guyana

Calabash Caye, Belize

Tiger Fern Waterfall, Belize

Blue Lagoon, Jamaica

Mora tree, Guyana

Main interior highway, Guyana

CONSERVATION INITIATIVES OPERATING AT TREE SITES

The world's first and only jaguar preserve (Belize)

1 million acre forest reserve, split into a sustainable use area and wilderness preserve (Guyana)

Mountain ecosystem preservation (Jamaica)

Climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration (Guyana)

River monitoring and patrolling (Guyana)

Protection of the world's highest single drop waterfall and surrounding ecosystem (Guyana)